Psyren
by Lovethatfandom1540
Summary: Five years. It has been five years since the invasion. Five years that I have been an orphan. So, I guess I should tell you my name. Well, it's Raven. Raven Phillips or Phillips-Barton now, I guess. I am thirteen years old, I was adopted, and I am one of the X-men. I am, Psyren.
1. Chapter 1

It started about two months ago, I was in New York, sitting on a rooftop with my legs dangling off the edge just thinking. I had just been kicked out of yet another foster home. I made a mistake, I got too comfortable. They said I had no respect and called me an ungrateful brat. That was fine, I've had worse said to me. What got me was when one of the other foster kids in the house started to make fun. I punched him. In the face. Let me tell you, it felt good. Hey! I never said I was a good kid! I got kicked out, but it sure was satisfying.

Anyways, I was sitting on the rooftop watching the sun slowly set over the roofs of the city, the blues fading to reds and oranges, when I felt someone sit down beside me. I know, when you're sitting on a rooftop in the middle of New York, and a stranger sits next to you, you run right? Not me, I just ignored the figure. I watched as the sun continued to fade from sight, the stranger and I sitting in silence. That is, until he decided to start talking.

"So what are you doing up here?" He asked in a kind sounding voice. Kind, but it had an edge.

"Thinking" I said simply, not looking over at the man, a frown maring my face.

"About?" He asked and I finally looked over at him. He looked to be about thirty with short, dirty blonde hair. He was wearing sunglasses and had a bow slung across his back.

"Stuff," I said shrugging "what are _you_ doing up here?" I said attempting to change the topic.

"Thinking." was his reply.

"About?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Stuff." he replied with a matching smirk. A smile flickered across my face.

"Touché"

Looking at the sky, I saw that the sun had fully set and the darkness was closing in, the shadows grabbing at me. Groaning, I stood up. I was going to be in trouble when I got back.

"Sorry, but I gotta go, it's way past curfew" I said heading for the fire escape.

"Do you live in this building?" He asked standing up as well.

"No, I live a few blocks away. I just come here to think." I replied as it made my way to the street level.

"Let me walk you home. It's dangerous around here after dark." He said following behind me.

"I can take care of myself, but whatever helps you sleep at night." I said not even turning to look. Nonetheless I could practically hear the smirk on his face. We walked side by side the few blocks to the orphanage.

"Well, this is my stop." I muttered as I stopped in front of the gates.

"The Vlasky home for kids," He read aloud. "You live in an orphanage?" He looked at me curiously.

"Well, orphans tend to do that." I said slowly and slightly condescending. I was tired of the pity that comes with the whole 'Parents died in the invasion' thing. There was no way I was going to let some stranger pity me.

"Oh," He said quietly.

"Yep!" I said walking towards the door. Before I could open the gate, the door opened and a voice rang out. _'shit'_ I thought to myself.

"Raven Alexandra Phillips. What sort of time do you call this? I have told you time and time again to be back before dark. If something happens to you, I'm the one that gets in trouble." The voice of the matron, called out into the dark.

"Sorry , It won't happen again. I just got distracted." I said quietly, moving towards the door.

"Actually, it was my fault Ma'am. I had a problem and Raven here was kind enough to help me out." The man said with a smile. I gave him a grateful half-smile just as scoffed.

"Kind? That doesn't sound like Raven, little ungrateful brat" The matron said, saying the last bit towards me causing my smile to fall and for me to roll my eyes.

"Why would I lie?" He asked laying on the charm.

"I don't know, but whatever. Raven you are excused just this once. Now get in the house" She said glaring at me then smiling at the man that saved me. Nodding, I walked into the house with my head down. Closing the door behind me, I went to my room and layed down on my bed. My roommate giving me a look before going back to whatever she was doing. Only then did I realize that I never got the man's name.


	2. Chapter 2

The next time I saw the man was a week later. I was back on the rooftop, thinking, when he came and sat next to me.

"Hey Raven." He said looking at me with a smile.

"Hi... Ummmmm I never learned your name." I mentioned looking at him.

Laughing, he answered, "Clint. My name is Clint. Now what are you doing here this early? I would think you would be here for the sunset."

I shrugged, "I don't want a repeat of last time."

"Ah," He nodded. "so how have you been?" He asked, genuine curiosity in his eyes and voice. That surprised me most people don't really care when they ask that.

"I've been fine." I replied, settling back for a conversation.

And so it went. Over the next few weeks, we would meet on the rooftop at three. I would go everyday, some days he would come and others not. That was fine with me. I didn't expect him to come at all, let alone every day. Some days when he would come, he would take me to a diner to get something to eat. It was very kind of him to do so, and he didn't have to. I told him this once and he just laughed and said,

"Of course I do!" I smiled slightly and went back to my food. When I glanced up at him he had his ridiculous grin on his face and I shook my head and looked down again. He would teach me these so called 'games'. You know, how to tell a tail, how to lose said tail, stuff like that. One day he taught me pickpocketing. When I asked him why, he simply said that I never knew when it would be useful. I rolled my eyes and went back to trying to take the candy from his pocket.

I started to smile more, and the girls at the home said that I was nicer. I rolled my eyes at that. I wasn't nicer, I just didn't frown as much. I didn't even talk to them all that often, spending a lot of my time out of the house.

Then, for a week, he didn't show up. At first, I thought nothing of it. Maybe he was busy. But by Wednesday, I was worried. By Sunday, I was a wreck. I had snapped at everyone in the home at least once. They didn't even do anything wrong.

That was the day he showed up again. As soon as he sat down next to me, I tackled him in a hug. Surprised, he hugged me back.

"Hey, Hey, What's wrong?" He said in a soothing voice, rubbing circles in my back.

"I was worried about you," I said attempting to hold back tears. "A week. No note, no word, nothing!" He laughed causing me to glare up at him.

"Sorry 'bout that Rae, It was a sudden business trip. I only found out like an hour before I left. I didn't have a chance to let you know." He explained hugging me closer.

I nodded, he hadn't told me much about his work, only saying that it was government work. As a sorry for making me worry, Clint decided to take me out to eat and some ice cream. We went to the usual diner to eat. It was after that something interesting happened, we were in the ice cream shop waiting for our delicious dessert when a voice called out behind us.

"Awwww is Birdie getting some ice cream?" At this, Clint turned around, placing a hand on my shoulder.

"What of it Stark?" He said to the man. He had short, dark brown hair, sunglasses, and a goatee. He looked like someone who didn't care what others thought.

' _Did he say Stark? As in Iron Man? They know each other?'_ I thought to myself, looking at the two banter with each other.

"Oh, nothing Barton. Who's that cutie beside you? Got a secret kid we don't know about?" He said, waggling his eyebrows. Clint looked at Stark with an annoyed look, making me chuckle.

"So what if she is?" My head snapped to look at the man I had began to see as a father figure. He just smiled down at me in return.

"Nothing. Just curious as to why we've never met her and why she doesn't live in the tower with us." He said feigning uninterest.

Things were starting to fall in place in my mind. He had a bow on his back when we first met, government job, 'friends' with Stark, and lives at the Avengers tower. I was stupid for not noticing before, Clint was Hawkeye! I was interrupted from my thoughts by the lady handing me our ice cream. I took them and handed Clint his while taking a bite of mine. Leaning over, he took a bite of mine. I looked at him in disbelief.

He shrugged and said, "Tax" With a smile. I rolled my eyes and looked out the window. It was a bit darker out. Grabbing Clint's wrist, I looked at his watch.

"Shit!" I exclaimed.

"Rae…" He warned.

"Sorry, but look at the time!" I said hurriedly.

"Shit!" He exclaimed. "Sorry Tony, gotta go. If I don't get Rae home soon, there will be hell to pay." Taking my hand, Clint walked to the door.

"That's an understatement." I muttered, following behind him. As we were walking down the street I looked at Clint and asked, "What was that about?" He shrugged and I looked at him incredulously. "And _why_ didn't you tell me you were Hawkeye?" I asked in a whisper. Again, he shrugged.

"I didn't want to be known as the superhero for once." He stated. I nodded, It made sense.

"Fine. I guess I forgive you… again," I said with a smile. He laughed and we continued back to the orphanage, this time before dark. Before I went in the house, I turned and gave him a hug, muttering in his chest, "Thank you for today, I had fun." He hugged me back tightly.

"I had fun too kiddo. Have a good night. I'll see you tomorrow, ok?" He said pulling away from the hug, a smile on his face. I smiled, nodded, and began walking into the house.


	3. Chapter 3

Ugh. Monday morning. I walked down the stairs, planning to eat before heading out to school, only to see Clint in an intense conversation with Mrs. Vlasky. Fearing the worst, I backed out of the kitchen before they saw me and walked out to school, not worrying about breakfast.

I spent the entire day worrying about what they were talking about. I tried to focus in class but my thoughts kept wandering to the kitchen. I spent lunch alone as per usual. I only had about another week of this. It was June and I and skipped a grade meaning I would be a high school freshman starting in September. A new start. Maybe I could actually make some friends People who didn't see me as the little runt who lost her family to the invasion. By the end of the day, I was ready to go home and sleep but Clint had said 'see you tomorrow' meaning he was going to show up.

Fifteen minutes later, I was sitting on the roof, homework on my lap as I completed it. I had just finished my last question when he sat down beside me. I put the completed work in my bag and looked over at him.

"Hey Clint," I said with a smile.

"Hey Rae. Want to go see someplace cool today?" He asked, a grin on his face. Confusion etched across mine.

"Where?" I asked, suddenly curious.

"It's a surprise. You're just going to have to wait and see."

"Ughhh," I groaned loudly. "You know I hate surprises!"

"Well, you will like this one." He said grabbing my hand and pulling me up. As I followed behind him down the street, I realized that I had completely forgotten about the conversation I saw.

'Ehh, whatever. He isn't acting any different. Happier, maybe, but not bad.' I thought to myself. As we continued walking, the streets began to get crowded. Afraid of getting lost, I grabbed Clint's hand. He looked at me, smiled, and squeezed my hand. As we walked to the front of the Avengers tower, we came to a stop.

"Are you ready?"

"Ready for what?" I asked looking up at the tower.

"A tour of the tower. And meeting the people I consider family." He answered with a smile. I looked at him shocked.

"Really?" I asked, "Why would you do that?"

"Because I want to, and I consider you family also. I want all my family to know each other." I smiled up at him and gave him a hug.

"I consider you family too." I whispered just loud enough for him to hear me over the bustle of the city.

"Let's go on in." He said pulling away from the hug. "They're expecting us." With that he grabbed my hand again and pulled me into the building, through to the elevator. "Are the others on the main floor JARVIS?" Clint asked the air. I looked at him curiously until I heard another voice.

"No sir, they are at their usual locations." The disembodied voice said.

"Notify them that we are here and have them meet us on the main floor." He called out again.

"Of course, would you like to head to that floor now?"

"Yes, thank you JARVIS."

"You are welcome, sir." The voice said as the elevator started moving. I looked at Clint, curiosity gleaming in my eyes.

"Who is JARVIS?" I asked him.

"He is Tony's AI system. He runs the tower." Clint answered.

"Oh, cool!" I said as the elevator came to a stop and the doors opened. Clint practically pushed me out and threw me on one of the couches in the room. He seemed pretty excited. When he sat next to me, we chatted until I heard a voice call out from behind me,

"Little Birdie!" Letting out an inaudible groan, I turned to see Tony walking out of the elevator with a man that had short, curly hair and glasses. He saw me looking at him and smiled almost nervously. I gave him a small smile back. I was about to tell Tony to not call me 'Little Birdie' when the elevator opened again and a woman with short, red hair and a tall man with short blond hair stepped out. All four of them made their way over and sat down. The red head sat on the other side of Clint and the others spread around.

"Is Thor still on Asgard?" Clint asked the group. A chorus of 'Yes' could be heard. "OK then, we can start the introductions."

"Wait, Wanda should be here any minute." The redhead said placing a hand on Clint's shoulder. I smirked inwardly. There was definitely something going on there. Looking around, I saw that the others had seen it too. The elevator dinged, making me jump and the others laugh at my reaction.

A girl who looked to be about 16 stepped out of dressed in a red leather jacket. She came over to the group and sat on the other side of me.

"Well," Clint started, "now that everyone is here, we can start the introductions." The redhead spoke up first, apparently shocking everyone.

"I am Natasha, but you can call me Nat." Tony looked over at her, shock plastered on his face.

"She can call you Nat but I can't!?" He exclaimed. "No offense Little Birdie." Nat glared at him before turning back to me. I rolled my eyes at his antics and turned my attention back to Nat.

"Clint has told me all about you." She said with a faint smile, I looked at Clint then back to Nat.

"It's nice to meet you too," I politely replied.

Next was the scruffy haired man. He simply nodded to me "My name is Bruce," he said. I nodded back in greeting.

"Hello there ma'am, my name is Steve." The blonde man said from beside Bruce. I smiled in greeting.

"And I am th-"

"I know who you are Tony." I said cutting him off. He huffed and looked dejected when everyone laughed. The girl sitting beside me laughed slightly and stuck her hand out for me to shake.

"My name is Wanda, nice to meet you." She said with a slight accent. Shaking her hand, I replied.

"Nice to meet you too. I'm Raven but I'm sure you already knew that." Laughing, she nodded.

"OK!" Clint said standing up. "time for the tour." He pulled me off the couch with a smile and we walked toward the elevator.

"Wow, Birdie looks actually happy. He must really like the kid." I heard Stark say right as the elevator door closed. Looking at Clint's face, I could tell that he had heard Stark's comment. He looked kinda sad, yet happy at the same time. It was kinda confusing.

Clint showed me around the tower and ended on the roof. Smiling, I walked to the edge and sat down. Watching as the sun set. Wait, sunset? Crap! My curfew! Clint seemingly read my mind because he sat down.

"Don't worry about your curfew, I got permission from Mrs. Vlasky for you to be out late. It is a special day after all." He said with a smile.

"It is?" I asked looking at him curiously.

"Yep." He said popping the 'p' "I had a conversation with Mrs. Vlasky this morning, and she said that if you are willing, you could come and live with us at the tower. You could be a part of our family."

My brain went into overdrive. He wanted me to live with him? And the others were okay with it? I sat there for a moment. I assumed that Clint understood that I was processing as he said nothing and sat with me patiently waiting for my response. I mentally smiled at that. Slowly, I nodded. A grin appearing on my face. I threw myself at him and gave him a hug.

"I would love to." I said grinning into his chest. I felt him let out a sigh of relief, causing me to laugh. "What? didn't think I would say yes?" I asked him teasingly. He shook his head.

"Come on, let's go inside. It's getting cold out." He said standing up. Shrugging, I stood up behind him, a huge grin still on my face. I was going to have a family.


	4. Chapter 4

I settled in relatively quickly, school ended and summer was spent getting to know everyone at the tower. Clint and I had our own floor to ourselves. I guess it used to be just Clint's floor but he didn't seem to mind sharing. I got especially close to Natasha and Wanda, them being the only other girls. I liked Pepper but I never got to see her much as she was always working. Nat became a mother to me and Wanda a protective big sister. I even met Wanda's brother Pietro.

The day we met, I was sitting in the living room on the avengers floor about a week after I had moved in. I was watching one of my favorite shows called 'the Librarians' now, usually I would watch something like Doctor Who, or The Flash, but I was all caught up on those shows and _really_ wanted to watch it. Anyways, I was watching the show when I felt a gust of wind and the channel changed. Looking around, I saw a teen with blonde, almost white, hair. He was sitting on the other end of the couch flicking through the channels on the TV.

"Umm... Hello?" I asked quietly, attempting to be respectful. Even after being here for a bit, I didn't want to risk it, in case it turned out like my past homes. It was unlikely, but possible. He looked over as if just noticing that I was there.

"Hi!" he said with a smirk. "Sorry, were you watching something?" I shook my head.

"Nothing that can't be watched later." He nodded in understanding.

"Well, I'm Pietro." He said, once again smirking.

"Raven," I replied, reaching my hand over to shake his hand when suddenly, a red blast of energy flew over my head and towards Pietro. Faster than I could blink, he was out of the way.

"PIETRO MAXIMOFF WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN!?" I hear from the direction that the blast came from. His smirk turned into a grin.

"Hey little sis." He said speeding behind me where I saw him hugging a furious Wanda.

"Don't call me that, we are the same age. and _I_ was born first." Wanda said, finally hugging back. "But besides that, WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN? DO YOU KNOW HOW WORRIED I HAVE BEEN? IT HAS BEEN SIX MONTHS, SIX FREAKING MONTHS SINCE THE LAST TIME I SAW YOU!" She began shouting and punching at her brother.

"Sorry sis, I've been busy." He replied running back over to the couch to sit by me.

"Busy? What kind of excuse is that?" She asked, walking to sit on one of the arm chairs in the room. Pietro shrugged.

"All I can say. Now, our introductions got cut short-" He said shooting a glare at Wanda before turning back to me. "What brings you to the Avengers tower?" He asked me.

"Clint's fostering me." I stated simply. The look of shock on his face nearly made me laugh.

"Hawkeye likes kids?" He asked surprised. I shrugged and took the remote from him, going back to my show. He looked at the screen then back to me. "You like the Librarians?" He asked, an excited gleam in his eyes. I heard Wanda groan.

"I'm leaving before you two start your geek fest." She stated as she made her way to the elevator. I gave a small smile and turned back to Pietro, nodding slowly.

For the rest of the day, we watched the Librarian movies and chatted about random things. Slowly, I opened up and started talking more instead of the almost one sided conversation that it was earlier. I was laughing at a joke when I heard Pietro cuss.

"Shit, I wasn't supposed to be gone so long. They're bound to be suspicious." He said jumping up. I looked over at him curiously.

"Who're they?" I asked.

"Sorry, can't say, orders. But, I'll come by soon." He sent a smile my way and I couldn't help but smile back as he zipped out of the room and into the night. Still smiling, I turned back to the TV to see that it was almost midnight. I was surprised. He had shown up at about 8-ish in the morning. I had never spent so much time talking to someone before.

Turning off the TV, I made my way to mine and Clint's floor and into my room. Hopping into my bed, I fell into a restful sleep.

That's the night things started getting interesting. I was dreaming about the invasion, but it wasn't the one where my parents died protecting Me, I seemed to be flying. I was flying above the city, aliens all around me and I looked forwards towards a portal. THE portal. Flying through, I saw a missile looking thing fly forwards. It was then that I realized that I had been carrying it the entire time. I watched as the large ship exploded in a ball of flame and all I could feel was falling as I woke up with a Start.

I woke up sweating. I was confused as to why I had that dream, it seemed familiar but I couldn't place where I knew it from. Looking at the clock, I saw that it was only 5 in the morning. I shrugged and got up. It was only an hour earlier than when I usually got up to go running with Steve. The Avengers, (AKA Nat, Clint, and Steve) had taken to training me. Nat was teaching me hand to hand, Clint, archery, of course, Steve didn't like the idea of me fighting, but he took me running nonetheless.

Deciding to get an early start to the day, I hopped into the shower before getting dressed and heading down to breakfast. When I got down there, I saw Tony at the table nursing a coffee.

"Hey Tony." I said quietly as I made my way to the kitchen.

"Hey kid, what are you doing up so early?" He mumbled. I shrugged in response.

"Had a weird dream. Thought I might as well stay up, I gotta be up in an hour anyways." I told him. I didn't try and be respectful as it seemed as though he could care less about that right now. He nodded and went back to his coffee as I prepared my breakfast.

When I finished my cereal, I went to the living room and plopped on the couch falling asleep seconds later only to be woken by Steve an hour later. (when I wrote this, I was in calculus and accidentally wrote 'the graph' instead of 'the couch') Getting off the couch, I walked over to the elevator. Steve followed behind me, laughing as I began to yawn.

"Shut up." I mumbled, "I woke up at five 'cause of a weird dream." I told him as we stepped out of the elevator and walked out of the building. We began at a light jog, Steve slowing his pace so we could talk.

"What was the dream about?" He asked as we jogged our way to central park. I sighed and began explaining my dream. When I finished, our jog was over and we were heading back to the tower. Steve was quiet. Looking over at him, I saw a slightly disturbed look on his face.

"What is it?" I asked, confused.

"Nothing," He started, "that just seemed very familiar."

"Familiar how?"

"That is what happened to Tony during the invasion." I stopped walking. Steve stopped soon after.

"H-how did I know that?" I asked, "I was on the other side of town..." I was scared.

"I don't know. Let's get to the tower and we can talk to the others, ok?" I said in a soothing voice. I shook my head.

"I don't want the others to know. It was probably nothing, I probably just saw what happened somewhere. I don't want to worry them about nothing." I lied. It was totally something. Steve didn't notice apparently, and nodded, before resuming our walk back home.

As soon as I walked out of the elevator on the avengers floor, I was pulled towards the training room by Nat as per usual. The next hour was my hand to hand training where we pretended that we were beating on Tony and made jokes. Basically, Nat's version of girl time. (Not that I am complaining) Soon enough, Clint came for my archery work. Yeah, I know, I had been going non stop since 5 and its bearing on 8 now, but this had been the schedule for the past few weeks. Archery was another hour of work filled with jokes.

Personally, I loved training. I got to spend time with my favorite people and I got to learn new things. When the hour was up, Clint and I decided to spend a bit more time training. When I looked over at the clock, I saw that it was almost noon. Damn Clint and his skill of getting me to forget the time. I tapped his shoulder after he released his arrow (You only make that mistake once).

"It's time for lunch." I told him. He smiled, ruffled my hair, much to my annoyance, and put his bow away next to where mine was stored. Clint slung his arm over my shoulder and led me upstairs to the kitchen.

After I ate, I made my way to my room and took a quick shower. Stepping out, I got dressed and walked to Tony's lab to hang out. Sitting in one of the counters, I slipped into my thoughts, only to hear Tony mumbling about theories and equations. Looking over to the man, I saw him silently working. Yet, the voice continued. I sat staring at Tony in confusion for a while, trying to figure out what was going on. Eventually, I came to the conclusion that I should talk to Wanda as her powers seemed similar to what I was noticing. Hopping off the table, I made my way upstairs to find my best friend.

"Hey JARVIS?" I called out as I stepped into the elevator.

"Yes miss?"

"Where is Wanda at?" I asked the AI

"Miss Maximoff is currently in her room."

"Thank you JARVIS. Can you take me to that floor please?"

"Of course miss." He said and the elevator started moving.

I stopped in front of her door and hesitated before knocking. Wanda opened up the door with a smile. I looked at her and collapsed into her arms. Frowning, she pulled me into her room and closed the door behind her. Sitting me down on the bed, my friend sat next to me and waited for me to speak.

After a few minutes, I had calmed down enough to explain what was going on. _Telepathy,_ that's what she told me it was. From there, we added training with Wanda to my daily schedule. Together, we decided to keep this from the others. At least until I had full control over it. She explained to me that along with telepathy, telekinesis generally comes along with it. And so the summer continued in this fashion.


	5. Chapter 5

I'll admit, maybe we shouldn't have been messing around in Tony's lab without him present, but Pietro, Wanda, and I got bored. We were hanging out on the Avengers floor when Pietro had the brilliant idea to go and explore. So off we went and found our way to Tony's lab. Looking around, I saw a box only the size of the palm of my hand with a button on the side.

"Guys, come here," I called out, "I found something cool!" The twins walked towards me and circled around as I held the box in the middle of our little triangle. I passed the box to Pietro who almost dropped it. Quickly, I caught it, pressing the button. Suddenly, we were engulfed in a white light.

When I could see, I looked around to see a cave that seemed to be lived in. There was an entire living room and kitchen set up that I could see from my vantage point. Just then, an alarm sounded throughout the cave.

"Where are we?" Pietro asked the question on our minds. Wanda and I shrugged as people came rushing in the room, surrounding us and looking ready to fight. We put our hands in the air. "Ok, never let Rae touch things."

I glared at Pietro before looking around me and sizing up the people surrounding us. All of them were teens, the youngest seeming to be my age. They all wore strange costumes and that's saying something considering who I live with.

"Who are you and how did you get here?" A boy demanded. He looked to be the oldest and wore a red muscle tank with black trim and swords on his back. On his neck were what seemed to be gills. Pietro stepped forward to answer. I pushed him back, stepping forward myself.

"This," I started, gesturing to Wanda, "Is Scarlet Witch. The smart mouth over here," Pietro now, "Is Quicksilver. I, am..." I paused to think for a second and looked to Wanda. I didn't exactly want to give them my real name and I didn't have a hero name to hide behind yet.

"Psyren." Wanda said for me. I smiled at her in approval.

"And as for how we got in here... I honestly have no clue." I told the apparent leader. I turned to look at my friends. "This is the last time we listen to Silver's ideas. I _knew_ messing in Tony's lab was a bad idea." I told them

"Oh yeah," Pietro sassed, "who is the one that picked up the box in the first place?"

"Who is the one who almost dropped it?" I sassed back louder.

"You pressed the button!" He said even louder.

"Both of you quit it!" Wanda yelled louder that either of us.

"Yes sis." Pietro and I called out in unison.

"You three are siblings then?" Leader boy asked. I shook my head.

"Those two are, I'm just her best friend." I told him, "Now you know who we are, who might you guys be?"

"You mean you don't know us?" A teen in what looked to be yellow spandex asked. I shook my head again. "Oh well," He said and smiled flirtatiously at me. "I'm Kid Flash." He super-sped over to me. I took a step back towards Pietro who put his hand on my shoulder.

"I am Aqualad." Leader boy said. A girl dressed in green with a bow in her hand stepped forward next.

"Artemis." She stated simply. Next, a majorly buff guy stepped forward, a stoic look on his face.

"Superboy." He all but grunted. Next was the kid who looked my age. He was wearing brightly colored clothes.

"I'm Robin." He said with a mischievous smirk. The last to introduce themselves was a green girl who seemed to be floating off the ground.

"I am Miss. Martian, nice to meet you." She said with a smile on her face. I smiled back slightly. The group around us shared a look. Leader boy nodded and I felt pressure in my head. I growled and leveled a glare at the people surrounding me.

"Who is attempting to enter my mind?" I ground out. Pietro and Wanda took a step forward as if to guard me. Miss. Martian looked sheepishly at me for a second before the pressure went away. I took a deep breath.

"Sorry," she started, "People don't normally know what that feeling is." I softened my glare, it was hard to stay mad at the girl.

"You could have asked about whatever you are looking for." I told her, smirking.

"We were looking to see if we could trust you." Robin told us. "You don't seem to know who we are, and that's worrying."

"The same can be said about you." Pietro butted in. "Scarlet and I at least, are quite famous. Ever heard of the Avengers?"

"You mean that comic?" KF asked. Robin nodded along.

"Comic?" Wanda asked. "Since when is there a comic of us?" I shrugged. "What is your team called?"

"We don't really _have_ a name. People call us Young Justice though. We are a stepping stone for young heroes to the Justice League." Robin told us.

"Aren't _those_ comics?" I asked. I had read many issues when I was in the orphanage. They were a huge motivator to me. Everyone looked around confused. That is when it came to me, "You don't think?" I started.

"That Tony built a Dimension hopper?" Pietro finished. I nodded. "So we are in a different dimension? Cool!" I mentally face palmed.

"Wait. If you guys are really those characters, then does that mean that Quicksilver has super speed like me?" KF asked quickly. Pietro smirked and sped to the other side of the group and up to Artemis.

"Pietro Maximoff, at your service." Pietro said as he kissed her hand. I grit my teeth and looked over at Wanda who was watching me with curiosity.

The Young Justice team relaxed around us and we split into groups. Girls and boys. Wanda and I got to talking to Artemis and Megan as I learned Miss. Martian's earth name to be. I explained to the girls how I was taken in by Hawkeye and trained in archery and then how I found my powers.

"I'm basically a human mix of the two of you!" I told them causing them to laugh.

"How about an archery contest then?" Artemis challenged. I shrugged.

"Ok," I accepted, "Boys!" I called out, they all looked at me. "Artemis and I are competing in archery. Follow if you want." Pietro sped over to me as I followed Artemis to the training room. "I won't use my powers to make it fair." I joked. She shot me a look and I smiled back. Artemis loaned me a bow and we took our places. Wanda called it and we emptied our quivers into the targets in front of us. Checking the targets, it was clear that Artemis had won as she got all bulls-eyes. I had quite a few but others missed almost completely, just hitting the outer ring.

"Looks like I win." She said smugly. Shrugging, I put my borrowed bow down and took the quiver off my back.

"I expected nothing less. I just wanted to see how I fared against someone other that Hawkeye. I only started about two months ago." I told her.

"Then what was with the whole 'I won't use my powers to make it fair' shit?" She demanded. I took a step back and Pietro came to my side making me mentally smile.

"I was _joking!_ " I told her. "Plus, it did make it fair, this way it was pure skill that way, not me exercising my powers." She shrunk back slightly and I turned to walk to the area that we had showed up in. I felt Megan asking to enter my mind. I allowed her limited access.

 _"So you have telekinetic and telepathic abilities Psyren?"_ She spoke in my mind.

 _"It's Raven"_ I told her, _"And what is this? Wanda and I haven't worked on this."_

 _"I call it a mind link. It allows us to communicate telepathically. I can teach you some of my skills if you would like."_ She said, causing me to smile.

 _"I would like that. Wanda tries, but her powers are different. It would be nice to learn from someone who actually knows what is going on."_ And so it went. I spent the next few hours with Megan learning how to use my powers more efficiently. Apparently my eyes turn purple when I use my powers. Megan told me that her uncle, the Martian Manhunter, would be a better teacher as Megan is still learning, but I learned more than I would have on my own. Looking at the clock, I saw it was growing late.

"Renny!" Pietro called out, "Ren... Ren... Psyren... RAE!" My head turned to look at him.

"Yes?" I asked, "And Renny?"

"Well, yeah. It's a nickname from Psyren." I shook my head. "We should get home, the others are probably panicking, looking for you." I nodded and turned to Megan. She smiled encouragingly at me as I expanded mine and Megan's mind link to include everyone.

 _"Thank you guys for having us, but we should be getting back."_ Everyone but Megan looked at me confused. I laughed at them. _"We will come and visit soon, I promise."_ I told them before closing off the link and pulling the box out of my pocket. Linking my arms with Wanda and Pietro's, I pressed the button, surrounding us with the white light yet again. Looking around, we were back in Tony's lab. Pocketing the box. I went to one of Tony's computers.

"What are you doing?" Wanda asked me,

"Looking for the blueprints for the box so we can give it to the YJ guys the next time we visit... aha! I found it!" I said as I printed them off and stuffed them in my pocket with the box. Hacking into the system, I deleted the security footage of us taking the box and blueprints. "Whew. That was more difficult than Rob made it look."

"How did you do that?" Pietro asked me, impressed.

"Rob gave me a little something," I said as I unplugged the USB I had plugged into the system. "He had a feeling we would need this." He laughed, then checked his watch and cursed.

"Well, I gotta run! See you guys later!" He gave us a kiss on the cheek each and ran off, leaving us to sneak out of Tony's lab, try not to get in trouble for being out of reach, and order me some blue contacts.

That was not the last time we visited the Young Justice team. Each time I learned something new about my powers. Once, I even got a lesson from the Martian Manhunter himself! I gave the blueprints of the Dimension Cube to Robin and he set to making his own so they could visit us. Together, we made a pact to assist the other team if they are facing something that they can not handle alone. It was the start of a relationship that would eventually mean so much to all of us.

 _So, to be honest, I wrote most of this story in high school. As such, it is probably terrible but I don't really want to fix it beyond the obvious typos. Have a wonderful day! ~LTF_


	6. Chapter 6

Time passed and as it did, my powers became more stable and more controlled. Pietro visited at least once a week to join Wanda and I on our visits to what we started calling the DCU after the comic company that the Young Justice team were portrayed in in our universe. Days turned to weeks turned to months and September soon came. Clint had decided, with my input of course, that sending me to school in New York was not a good idea. They still didn't know about my powers, but word about me being the Avenger's ward got out and brought attention my way. We decided that Bayview in the next town over was a good choice. It was near enough for a daily commute but far enough to avoid immediate recognition.

When the first day of school came, I was up early and in the kitchen by 4:30 getting breakfast. Heh, a teenager willingly getting up at 4:30, weird, I know. I just wanted to get my jog in before class started at 7:30. I needed to get there early and it was a 30 minute drive to the school, thus, getting up at 4:30. After breakfast, I went to the training room to run on the treadmill as the adults would freak if I went outside to run at that time of day, even if I was heavily trained by Black Widow herself.

I finished running and took a shower, taking my time. I was ready by 6:15 so I sat on the couch and pulled out my phone, passing the time until Clint came downstairs by playing a game. I was doing well, passing my high score, when Clint came up behind me.

"What are you doing?" He asked suddenly, making me scream and throw my phone in the air.

"Clint!" I yelled, "I _just_ passed my high score!" I turned around to face him and give him a glare as he started laughing. I turned my back to him and stood up, walking to the elevator, a slight pout on my face, admittedly.

"Sorry Rae, couldn't resist. You looked so focused." He said, smiling and following behind me. I groaned at his laughter as we made our way to the garage. We spent most of the ride just chatting randomly. This is until Clint got really nervous and kept glancing my way. "Hey Rae?" He asked, shifting slightly in his seat.

"Yeah?" I responded confused.

"How would you feel if I were to tell you that someone wanted to adopt you?" I felt my heart sink. I was going to have to leave the people who became family.

 _Pull yourself together Raven, you knew this wouldn't last. It never does._ I told myself as I looked over to Clint and forced a smile on my face. "That's great!"

"Yeah, I discussed it with the others, and they agreed. We want to make it permanent." I froze. He meant that _he_ was adopting me? My fake smile turned into a real one that turned into a grin. "I registered you at school as Raven Phillips-Barton. I didn't know if you wanted to keep your original last name or not." He said somewhat nervously.

"Thank you. It wouldn't have felt right losing my parents name." I told him smiling. Pulling into the driveway of the school, he smiled back at me before putting the car in park. I leaned over and pulled him into a hug.

"Have a good day Rae." He said with a smile. "Bruce is going to pick you up after school. Nat and I have work." I nodded and stepped out of the car.

"Bye!" I said, still grinning, before turning away and walking into the school.

I walked into the school a bit nervously, like the rest of the freshmen until I saw a head of silvery-white hair. Squealing, I ran towards the boy and jumped on his back.

"PIETROOOOOO!" I yelled laughing as he stumbled a bit before grabbing my legs and regaining his balance. He looked over his shoulder to see me and a look of confusion and slight panic washed over his face.

"What, is the brotherhood recruiting kids now?" A voice asked. I looked in front of Pietro to see a redhead girl with a brown haired guy with glasses on. He must have been the one who spoke. I wrinkled my nose at the two. Ignoring them, I looked to my friend and dropped my head on his shoulder.

"Pietro~~" I whined, "Why didn't you tell me you went here? I wouldn't have been so freaked out."

"Raven Phillips why didn't _you_ tell _me_ that you were going here?" He asked with a mischievous grin.

"Actually, it's Phillips-Barton now." I told him smugly. He dropped my legs and I fell to the ground, landing on my feet. He turned to face me, a grin on his face.

"They finally decided to go through with the adoption?" He asked. I nodded in reply.

"Clint told me on the drive here." Suddenly I was picked up and spun around, making me giggle.

"Maximoff-" A voice interrupted, causing both Pietro and I to turn to the speaker and glare.

"What do you want Summers?" Pietro asked in a voice that didn't sound like the boy I had gotten to know. It sounded like all snark and slightly bully-esque, no kindness left from when he was talking to me. Looking over at him, I connected our minds, something that I had been practicing with Megan.

 _"Whats going on?"_ I asked mentally. He looked shocked for a second before relaxing.

 _"I'll explain later Rae, but be careful. Gray has mental powers too."_ He replied. I assumed that Gray was the redhead as he called the boy Summers. Nodding to him, I disconnected our link. The girl looked at me strangely, like she recognized me. I felt a pushing pressure in my mind. Sighing, I let her in.

 _"Are you, by chance, a mutant?"_ She asked. I looked over at her strangely.

 _"I guess."_ I replied.

 _"Then what are you doing with this guy? He is not a nice person."_ She said sweetly, as if talking to a young child. I burst out laughing at that, getting me worried look from Summers, A bored look from Pietro who was used to me laughing randomly, and a confused look from Gray. I shrugged it off and pushed her out of my mind as the bell rang.

"I gotta go find my first period," I said giving Pietro a hug. "Can't wait to tell Wanda where you have been hiding out and why you hardly come home." I said before walking down the hall. Before I left, I connected our minds.

"Don't you dare tell her where I have been Rae!" He shouted after me. Chuckling, I looked back at him.

"You are so terrified of her, it makes things interesting." I said with a smile before heading into class.

During the class period, I forced him to tell me what was going on. SHIELD had decided that there was something fishy going on at Bayview so they sent Pietro in to figure it out. When he showed up, he got recruited to a group called the 'brotherhood'. SHIELD thought that having him in the group as a double agent was a good idea. Now he had to pretend to be a bad guy. Or, basically, a douche. Apparently, me hanging out with him was not a good idea and I should hang around Summers, Gray, and their group as they are the X-Men or so I am told. He also made me swear not to tell Wanda what was going on as the mission was top secret and that I shouldn't have even been told.

We chatted on and off the entire first half of the day, mostly about the ridiculousness that is high school classes. When lunch came around, Pietro suggested that I attempt to make friends with the X-Men. Walking into the courtyard, I saw Gray and Summers. I quickly made my way towards them and their group, but paused by the table.

"Hey," I said, startling the group. "Do you guys mind if I sit with you?" I asked. A sophomore girl from one of my advanced classes, Kitty, I think her name was, looked up at me.

"Of course! You can sit-" She started, only to be interrupted by Summers.

"Why don't you go sit with your friend Maximoff?" He asked quite rudely, getting weird looks from the rest of the table. I scoffed.

"I would, but his friends kinda creep me out." I stated, staring him in the eye. _"God, Summers is soooo annoying!"_ I told Pietro over the mind link. I could feel him smile. I saw movement out of the corner of my eye and looked up to find a spot made between Kitty and a pale guy with shaggy black hair whom I learned was named Kurt. I smiled slightly and moved to sit with them. We made small talk for a bit, with me just listening. I felt awkward around them, we didn't know each other, so I stayed quiet and just listened. That is until Jean, Gray's first name as I learned, brought up my powers. She explained Xaviers institute for gifted youngsters and how it was designed to assist mutants with learning to control their powers. She invited me to visit the manor after school.

"Sure," I told her. "I just gotta tell my ride that he doesn't have to pick me up." I said quietly. Kitty looked over at me and smiled, pulling out her cell.

"Wanna use my phone?" She asked. I smiled slightly but shook my head.

"He is a very cautious person. He won't answer unknown numbers."

"Then how will you tell him? She asked, confused. I stood up.

"I'll be right back." I walked over to where Pietro was sitting, avoiding the looks I got from his friends as I made my way over. Coming up behind him, I threw my arms over his shoulders, causing him to jump and me to laugh.

"Twice in one day! That's a record!" I said with a smile on my face now.

"What do you want Rae?" He asked grumpily, pouting now.

"I need to borrow your phone. I gotta call Bruce and you know how he is."

"Why don't you use yours?" He asked and I slapped him upside the head.

"You know my dad said I couldn't have one until my birthday." I exclaimed. Grumbling, he pulled his phone out of his pocket and handed it to me.

"You calling him dad now?" He asked me.

"Yeah, that's what he is now." I told him with a smile. I placed a kiss on his cheek before walking back over to my table to make the call, already dialing the number. Reaching my table, I was met by looks of shock. "What?" I mouthed and the group shook their heads as Bruce answered.

"Pietro? What's wrong? You never call." Bruce's worried voice came on the phone.

"No problems Bruce, It's Raven."

"Rae? Why do you have Pietro's phone?"

"Cause I needed it to talk to you and I don't have my own phone to call you on. Turns out we go to the same school now."

"Oh, well what did you need to talk to me about?"

"Well, dad said you are picking me up from school today?"

"Dad?" He asked, seemingly confused.

"Clint, Bruce, he adopted me, remember? So I'm going to call him dad now."

"Oh, well, yeah, I'm picking you up. Why?"

"I was just letting you know that I got invited to a new friend's place after school." I told him.

"Ok. Just text me their number so I know who's calling. Kay?"

"Yep. Got it uncle Bruce!" I said with a smile. I heard a chuckle over the line.

"Be good Rae."

"Will do. Bye!"

"Bye." He said and hung up. I looked over to Kitty.

"Hey Kitty, can I have your number so I can send it to my Uncle?" Kitty simply nodded and handed her phone over. I sent the number and put Pietro's phone in my pocket but not before taking some random selfies on it first. I handed Kitty back her phone.

"Aren't you going to give his phone back?" Jean asked me. I shook my head.

"Nope! He has to ask for it first." I told her with a smirk. They blinked and focused behind me. I felt movement behind me and turned to see Pietro creeping up on me like he was going to scare me. Seeing the jig was up, he stood and crossed his arms.

"Give me my phone back." He stated. I shook my head.

"Come and get it from me." I taunted. "No powers." I added quickly. He huffed but came at me at a normal speed. I ducked out of the way and pulled his phone out and waved it around.

"You are just as bad as Wanda." I heard him mutter.

"Who do you think taught me?" I asked laughing freely. Finally, he rushed forward tackled me, causing my new 'friends' to gasp but me to laugh harder. "Here, here's your phone back!" I said between laughs, pushing the device into his hands. He stood up, smirking triumphantly. I shook my head at him and held out my hand for him to help me up.

"Why do I let you hang around my sister? She is a bad influence on you. What happened to the polite girl I first met?" He asked, feigning sadness.

"She became best friends with your sister." I stated and sat back in my seat. "Now bye." I said, shooing him off.

"What the hell was that?" Practically everyone at the table said as soon as Pietro sat back down at his table. I shrugged.

"His twin sister is my best friend. Means I get free reign to pick on him."

As soon as the words left my mouth, I heard Pietro start yelling, "RAVEN!" Chuckling, I finished off my food and stood up, heading for my next class, ASL.

"See you guys after school" I threw over my shoulder. Today had been a good day.

 _I honestly wrote this story with this chapter in mind. No joke, I wrote it almost first thing and then had to back track to get to the beginning. Fun fact there. Have a wonderful day! ~LTF_


End file.
